grough route mapping system

[grough editor]

It seems I only ever come on this forum to place blatant plugs.
So here goes...

I don't know how useful this is to fellrunners, but we've launched our online route planning system with access to all OS 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 maps for an annual subscription.

The bad news is, as I said, you have to pay for it (though it is a bargain!)

It was designed with walkers mainly in mind, but it could be of use planning long-distance challenges or training routes. The timing system can by modified to suit any running or walking speed over different terrain.

It can be accessed via our main www.grough.co.uk website.

I'm currently putting all the Fellsman checkpoints on it and may put a suggested route for the event on too. Have you any other suggestions? I know there are different variations for, say, the BG, but a basic route might be possible and you can copy this and adopt it.

I'd be interested to hear your views.

Thanks again for indulging me. I'll probably be the most frozen one at the Fellsman Yarnbury checkpoint in May if you make it that far.

Bob, grough editor

[ukhursty]

Sounds like a great deal! Used to have access to all maps on Edina while at uni, but not anymore so might give this a go

[Anorak]

Sounds like a great deal! Used to have access to all maps on Edina while at uni, but not anymore so might give this a go

I would give it a go. I've sampled this and it is so easy to use. You don't have to be a computer programmer to work it - if I can then anybody can.

Also, an added bonus...its good fun too. Expected it to be a real pain marking out some of the routes but I actually found it pleasurable!

Not expensive either !!!

[Oven Gloves]

What anorak said. I had a go with the free trial and thought it was great, so bought a bronze subscription (though will upgrade it to silver before it expires and get the whole year for an extra 18 quid).

Should save me a bit on maps

[mr brightside]

Looks good Bob but i don't use GPS i just stick to map and compass, my compass won't lose signal and my map has never run out of batteries!

[grough editor]

Well, GPS downloads and uploads are only part of the story. You can print out paper maps at A4 (and now A5 at the request of a customer) with your route on them.
So you don't need a GPS to use the system. In fact, I'd never go on the hills without some mapping and compass myself.

[mr brightside]

Only kidding Bob i usually print out squares off the Getamap site and stick them together, how does your system compare in price and, most importantly for me, user friendlyness with Memorymap which is your biggest competitor in the print-on-paper department. I have been considering Memorymap but only now and again, usually when i'm painstakingly lining up 9 squares of Getamap printouts.

[Ady In Accy]

If you bought 1:25K maps for MM for every area of the country it would be around a grand!

[grough editor]

Six months' subscription will cost you £27; 12 months' £45. For that, you get unlimited access to OS mapping and the ability to create, save and share routes with other users, if you choose.
One aspect we really want people to pick up on is the collaborative nature: I spent part of this evening marking Fellsman checkpoints on the mapping, for instance, which everyone can see. You can, if you want to keep your route to yourself, keep it private, so you don't have to give away that short cut that saves 100m!
We've tried to make it as intuitive and user friendly as we can, and we're still in a sort of indefinite consultation period using feedback to adapt the system.
For instance, one user wanted waypoints to be marked differently on printouts from ordinary nodes; we did that. Someone else likes to print his maps on A5 sheets rather than A5; so we rejigged the system so that was possible.
The whole point is to let grough route evolve around its users, if it's technically possible.
Also, the maps will print out to scale and at 100 dmcm resolution; we think the quality is comparable to systems like MM and Anquet - we use the same OS image tiles.
Full pricing details are at http://www.grough.co.uk/route/subscriptions/.

And thanks to you all for your interest. I might not be as fast as some of you, but we all share the fells, and I think grough route is ideal for runners, walkers and mountain bikers. We started from scratch with that whole ideal.

[noel]

Looks good Bob but i don't use GPS i just stick to map and compass, my compass won't lose signal and my map has never run out of batteries!

I tried this once, but wasn't able to download the route from either my map or my compass to my computer. I rang the people at Silva, but they just hung up on me.